Savannah

There was a poem I studied my last semester of college about a young girl attempting to murder her baby dolls, and one of the lines that always stuck with me was, "Have you ever wanted to give someone all your money?"

I didn't really understand it then. Today I went to Savannah with a couple friends and as we were walking through a square, carrying our beers and our touristy purchases, there was a peace protest going on. One person stood on each corner of the quintessential Savannah statue found in many of the squares. They didn't say anything, they each just stood with their posters suggesting peace.

There was a really old woman--like my grandma's age--standing on one corner in her twinset and slacks, holding a sign saying standing there would increase peace in plain block cut-out letters. And I wanted to give her all my money. Something about her tugged on my heart so heavily that I still remember exactly what she was wearing, though I don't remember the others. I wanted to make her happy, to solve her problems, to find out what drove her to protest in the square in the first place. They weren't looking for money, they weren't even looking for encouragement. All I could do was smile at her and hope she understood what I was trying to do.

I don't know what I'm trying to say with this. I don't know this woman, I'll probably never see her again, but something about her stuck with me and I had to get it out.